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PACKAGED WATER: CONSUMER SAFETY OR PURE ECONOMICS

AMIT KUMAR SINGH
PANKAJ KUMAR SINGH

In an era of globalization, market has changed everything into commodity. Water is no
exception. Despite the fact that water is one of the essentials of life, and a key foundation for
human development, we are leaving our water resources at the mercy of market economy.
Now, our tap water system caught itself in this packaged water business trap. Two decades
ago, only few people knew about mineral or spring water but now the bottled water is sold and
consumed everywhere in India. In the name of clean drinking water, a large number of Indians
are spending a lot of money to buy it. At present, this bottled water industry is estimated to be
a whopping Rs 1600 crore business and over the past few years it is growing at the rate of 38-
40% annually. In fact the fastest growth in the consumption of bottled water in the world has
been recorded in India. According to Bureau of Indian standards (BIS), there are 1200 bottling
plants and 200 Brands of packed drinking water across the country (nearly 80% of which are
local).
Interestingly this bottled water industry started as a as a luxury but a non-essential
item of desire to flaunt the socio-economic status of a person in the economically-rich western
countries. The water came from fancy mountain streams: they were packaged and sold as
mineral-filled sparkling water. It was different from tap water and a healthy (and snobbish)
alternative to sweet and street smart colas. But soon, the industry grew. In most cases, the
companies sold water that was not sourced from mountain springs but from public water:
municipal water sources. Once the snob habit was formed and the market created, the
companies simply packaged tap water in most cases into plastic bottles and sold it from
supermarkets. The fact that the use of bottled water makes a culture statement, the brand a
person drink says a lot about his/her status and has become as much a part of our society.
Now the bottling industries across the world marketing the product to consumers as
safer, healthier, refreshing, more reliable and above all, better than other soft drinks.
Moreover, in some parts of the world tap water was unavailable or unsafe. And with the
increasing prosperity and awareness many of the consumers had become more health
conscious. These drivers are booming global bottled water market. However, many of the
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scientific studies, across the world, have shown that companies are just bottling the tap water
in bottle in the name of spring water and selling to the consumers.
In this backdrop the present paper attempts to evaluate the myth and reality of
packaged water industry of India. The majority of the bottling plants are dependent on
groundwater. Many of the bottling plants are operating in the water stress zone of India where
groundwater is the only source for drinking water; therefore, in future, it can create huge water
problems. Moreover, bottled water is most commonly sold in glass or disposable plastic
bottles and there may be chances that this packaged drinking-water can be contaminated by a
range of chemicals if the bottle is not made by standard materials. Apart from that the
packaged water may contains microbial and chemical hazards substances include lead,
arsenic and benzene. Therefore, it is the need of hour to discuss all these problems and
challenges posed by packaged water industry in India.

History of Bottled Water Industry
The bottled water market started in Europe and Russia by the early 1900s and years
later it spread to the US and China. This industry was started with a very small market and the
main reason to use bottled water was health concerns (possible medicinal properties). At that
time one would be hard pressed to find a bottle of water for sale. The real boost of bottled
water commenced in 1968 when the French company Vittel revolutionarily launched the first
plastic bottled water- aimed for general public consumption.
Today, bottled water makes up a large portion of the beverage industry and has seen
quite a rise in popularity in the past decade. The bottled water industry is now very much
global in nature and growing faster than 10 percent per year. Figure 1 shows annual global
consumption from 2000 to 2010 (estimated). According to the Beverage Marketing
Corporation, global bottled water consumption has risen from 1000 millions of hectolitres to
around 2050 hectolitres world wide. Hence, over the last five years, global bottled water sales
have recorded an average annual growth rate of 10%. Importantly, its growth rate is outpacing
the soft drinks category as a whole, which grew annually at 6%. Today bottled water is the
fastest-growing beverage category in the world and the preferred beverage of choice in our
present on-the-go society.



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Figure 1
Global Bottled Water Consumption (2000-2010)
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
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Source: Beverage Marketing Cooperation

Thirty years ago, bottled water barely existed as a business. Nowadays we drink
globally millions of bottles a week. But the higher economic growth and the increasing urban
population of the developing countries has provided a greater opportunity to the bottled water
industry to prosper in the regional and indeed the global market. Figure 1 shows the global
bottled water volume share in 2010 by region. North America was the largest market in both
volume and value. In 2010, it consumes about 29.80 percent bottled water of the world alone.
Close to half of the U.S. population drinks bottled water on a regular basis and one in six
Americans drink only bottled water, even though it is much more expensive than tap water,
and sometimes less safe. However, throughout the past years some other countries are
showing to overtake this position. Although many are probably assuming that bottled water is
a luxury product, the increasing trend of the business is also seen in developing countries. It
can be seen from the table that the share of Asian countries, particularly of China and India is
increasing continuously. In 2005, Asian countries were consuming 22.9 percent of worlds
bottled water production but within 5 years it increases up to 28.5 percent.
Table 1
Global Bottled Water Market -Share of Consumption by Region 2005 2010(P)
Regions 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010(P)
North America 30.2 30.7 31.2 30.8 30.3 29.8
Asia 22.9 23.6 24.9 26.3 27.1 28.5
Europe 34.3 33.5 31.3 30.1 28.9 28.1
South America 9.1 8.8 9.2 9.4 10.2 10.1
Africa/Mideast/Oceania 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.5
TOTAL 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(P) Preliminary
Source: Beverage Marketing Corporation
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The global consumption of bottled water is growing in every continent and every
country. Table 2 shows the trend in global consumption since 2000. According to the
Beverage Marketing Corporation (2008), global per-capita bottled water use has risen from
28.5 thousand million gallons in 2000 to over 43.29 thousand million gallons in 2005. By far,
the largest consumer of the bottled water is United States, followed by Mexico. In the past few
years, however, consumption in China has grown enormously. In 2000, China was the
seventh largest consumer, but in 2005, within five years, it becomes the third largest
consumer of the bottled water in the world.
The highest growth rates are occurring in Asia and South America, with annual sales
increases of 12 percent or more in countries such as India, China, Brazil and Indonesia.
Basically, in this countries economy is growing at faster rate and the level of urbanisation and
rise in income also providing a greater opportunity for this sector. On the other hand, the
slowest growth is occurring in European countries. Though Europe is an established and
leading market of bottled water but the fact of the matter is that the bottled industries in
Europe is already on their commercial peak and the rate of population growth in Europe is
almost stagnated.
Table 2
Global Bottled Water Market
Leading Countries & Compound Annual Growth Rates (2005-2005)
Millions of Gallons
Sr. No. Countries
2000 2005
CAGR
1 United States 5425.1 7539.8 9.8
2 Mexico 3280 4963.3 8.6
3 China 1582.2 3395 16.5
4 Brazil 1799.6 3224.3 12.4
5 Italy 2434.5 2932.9 3.8
6 Germany 2217.7 2784.6 4.7
7 France 1970 2216.9 2.4
8 Indonesia 1135.3 2008.6 12.1
9 Spain 1110.8 1558.6 7
10 India 567.5 1625.5 23.4
12 Top 10 Subtotal 20822.7 32249.6 9.1
13 All Others 7734.5 11047.3 7.4
14 Total 28557.5 43297.4 8.7
Source: Beverage Marketing Cooperation


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The Indian bottled water market
Before 1980s, bottled water barely existed as a business in India and very few people
heard of it. Now, most of the Indians are using plastic water bottles. It may be possible that
many of them might be reusing the empty, non-recyclable plastic for carrying tap water rather
than consuming bottled water on a regular basis. The bottled water industry has literally
created its own necessity and is becoming the symbol of standard of living. The country like
India where the facilities of potable water in public place is likely to be found very rare,
therefore the demand for bottle water is bound to grow. For example, when one enters a
railway station, bus stand or any other public place he/she faces lack of safe drinking water
and in that situation businesses and companies are bound to exploit this basic necessity of
mankind. Almost all the major international and national brands water bottles penetrated in the
Indian market.
It is not that India has water insufficiency. In reality our country is blessed with
adequate natural resources of water. But along with that it is also true that we are the second
most populous country of the world, our population is increasing at alarming rate which
resulted in the increased rate of water consumption but on the other side we still have not
established adequate and improved management of the water supply systems. Apart from
that the rapid pace of industrialization and urbanization, use of fertilizers and chemicals in
agriculture sector and together with that our capacity to recycle our waste water is minimal, all
these collectively are deteriorating the quality of our water resources. This water shortage and
pollution has opened new doors for bottled water industry in India.
The history of bottled water industry dates back to 1965 when the brand Bisleri was
introduced in Mumbai by Bisleri Ltd., a company of Italian origin. Then bottled water was sold
as mineral water in India. In 1969, Parle India bought over Bisleri (India) Ltd and started
bottling Mineral water in glass bottles under the brand name 'Bisleri'. Earlier, bottled water
were packed in glass bottle but in the early- to mid-1980s with the growth of PVC packaging
companies started selling their packaged water in PET bottles. Till 1990 very few brands were
marketing their product in Indian Market. But after 1990, several industrial groups like Coca
cola, Pepsi, Nestle and noticeable presence of national players like Mount Everest,
Manikchand, Kingfisher, etc. has started operating in the market and since then this industry
has been multiplied manifold. With over a thousand bottled water producers, the Indian bottled
water industry India is the tenth largest bottled water consumer in the world.


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Table 3
Demand of Mineral Water
Year Demand (mn
cases)
Percentage
Growth
Cumulative
Growth
1990-91 2 - -
1994-95 6.5 225.00 2.25
1999-00 26 300.00 12.00
2004-05 82 215.38 40.00
2009-10 164.45 100.55 81.225
2014-15 265 61.14 131.5
Source: Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India,

The packaged drinking water industry in India is growing at a very rapid pace.
According to the estimates of Ministry of Finance, Government of India, there has been
phenomenal increase in demand for bottled water in India. In 1990-91, the demand for bottled
water was only 2 million cases but it increased up to 164.45 million cases in 2009-10. It
means, in last 10 years, the demand for bottled water in India has been increased by more
than 80 times. In 2014-15, the demand for bottled water is expected to reach up to 265 million
cases (table 3). Despite that, per capita consumption of bottled water in India is very less,
approximately half a litre per year, therefore there is a huge potential for industries in this
sector. Today it is one of India's fastest growing industrial sectors. Between 1999 and 2010,
the Indian bottled water market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25 per
cent - the highest in the world. According to the recent estimates the sales of bottled water
grew from $189 million (USD) in 2003 to $599 million in 2008 -- a growth rate of 216 percent
and it is expected that this figures will be doubled in the next five years.
Figure 2
Size of Indian Bottled Market (2003-2013)
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2003 2008 2013
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Market Characteristics of Bottled Water Industry in India
Now days, consumers in India are being bombarded with advertisements and
headlines warning about the potential risks of tap water in India. These industries are telling
the consumers that the water which is supplied though taps may be contaminated with the
different organic and inorganic particles. This belief is encouraged by regularly reported
problems with tap water contamination. Simultaneously bottling companies are also
aggressively advertising the problems though different publicity forum. They are modifying
their strategy according to the market as well as regional requirements. Therefore Indian
Bottling industry is much diversified in their size and nature. Apart from that the diversity in
India in terms of region and economy also shapes the size and class of this industry.

Composition of Bottled Water Industry
In terms of cost three types of bottled water is being sold in India. They are premium
natural mineral water, natural mineral water and packaged drinking water. In fact the origin
and processing of different types of bottled water makes them quite different in content and
taste. Premium natural mineral water includes brands such as Evian, San Pelligrino and
Perrier, which are imported and priced between Rs.80 and Rs.110 a litre. Natural mineral
water, with brands such as Himalayan and Catch, is priced around Rs.20 a litre. Packaged
drinking water, which is nothing but treated water, is the biggest segment and includes brands
such as Parle Bisleri, Coca-Cola's Kinley and PepsiCo's Aquafina. They are priced in the
range of Rs.10-12 a litre.
Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) defines the bottled water in India in two categories
i.e. (i) natural mineral water and (ii) packaged drinking water. The natural mineral water must
be obtained directly from natural or drilled sources like spring artesian well, drilled well or from
an underground water-bearing strata for which all possible precautions should be taken with in
the protected perimeters to avoid any pollution of, or external influence on, the chemical and
physical qualities. On the other hand, the bottled water which gets water from any source and
treated as per listed processes and confirming to Standards of BIS is termed as packaged
drinking water. Most of the bottled water brands come in the category of packaged drinking
water
According to Bureau of Indian standards (BIS), there are 1200 bottling plants and 200
Brands of packed drinking water across the country. Initially Bisleri, Kinley, Aquafina, etc were
the major player of the market with the high opportunities and returns in this sector have
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tempted many small and medium producers in this sector. One of the main reasons is that
Indias bottled water segment is largely unregulated and nearly 60% of packaged water
brands are local. Bottled water is sold in a variety of packages right from 200 ml pouches and
glasses, to 330 ml bottles, 500 ml bottles, to one-litre bottles and even 20- to 50-litre bulk
water packs. On the basis of packaging size Indian bottled market can be divided into two
categories:
1. Retail water market: Those packaged water which contains less than 5 liters water in a
bottle or pouch can be classify into retail water market. Interestingly many companies are
selling their product in 200 ml pouches and plastic glasses. Other packages that come in
this segment are 330 ml. bottles, 500 ml bottles, one litre, two litre and five litre bottles.
These kinds of products are being sold specially in rural or rurban markets. Unfortunately,
most of them are unregulated and unchecked and they do not follow the safety standards
set by BIS.
2. Bulk water market: Bulk water market includes those packaged water which contains
more than five litre water in the bottle. In India companies are vending three size of bottled
water. They are 10 litre, 20 litre and 25 litre bottle.
As mentioned above that more than 200 Brands of packed drinking water is being sold in
the Indian markets and nearly three fourth of them are local. Most of them are packaged by
the small-scale producers and sell non-branded products and particularly in small markets
across the country. In fact packaged water industry has grown up as cottage industry in this
country. That is why the share of pouches is very high (almost 49 %) in total bottled water
industries. Presently the market is skewed towards regional players and has more than 250
players in the fray. Total bottled market has a size of Rs. 11-12bn of this around Rs. 7 bn is in
the hands of organized sector and rest is with unorganized sector.
Figure 3
Composition of Package Market in India
Bulk Water,
6%
2000 Ml, 9%
1000 Ml, 34%
500 Ml, 2%
Puches, 49%

Source: A.C. Nielsen
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Other important aspect of bottled water industry of Indian is its regional concentration.
It is currently heavily south biased. Right now approximately 1200 bottling plants set up in
India and out of that 52 percent plants are concentrated in Southern States, particularly in
Tamil Nadu. Western region has 28 percent of bottling plants of India. Actually both these
regions are economically developed and the level of urbanisation is comparatively higher than
any parts of India. Therefore it is obvious for the bottled water manufacturer to establish their
plant in these urbanized states where purchasing power of common man is higher than other
states. Since the eastern region of India is economically underdeveloped the percentage of
bottling plant in this region is very low (5 %). In Southern States in many of the villages,
located near by the towns and even in some of the medium and small villages, the local brand
manufactures of bottled water are functioning with the help of ground water. This is a major
problem because southern India, especially Tamil Nadu is water starved.
Figure 4
Regional pattern of Bottle Industry in India
North, 15%
East, 5%
West, 28%
South, 52%
,

Source: A.C. Nielsen

Negative Aspects of Bottled Water Industry
In this era of mass consumption companies and traders are desperate to maximize
their profits and for that they are projecting each and every resource of the earth as a
marketable commodity. Consumers are being bombarded with advertisements that
necessitates of bottled water. Consumers have been warned regularly about the potential
risks of tap water, particularly water that may be contaminated with the harmful chemicals or
biotic organism. On the consumer side, some people also are more cautious about the quality
and taste of tap water, therefore they choose bottled water. It may be bottled water is
convenient and portable and many people may perceive that bottled water is fashionable and
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therefore desirable but actually buying bottled water is disadvantageous for several reasons.
Apart from the higher cost of bottled water, the production of bottled water creates
environmental problems. Importantly, bottled water is no safer and no healthier as advertised
by the bottling companies.

How safe is Bottled water?
It is always being argued by the bottling water industries that tap water is unsafe for
drinking purposes but is it true or a misconception falsely manufactured by market players.
Several studies have been conducted in United States which confirms that bottled water sold
in the United States is not necessarily cleaner or safer than most tap water. According to a
four-year scientific study recently made public by Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC),
about one-fourth of bottled water is actually bottled tap water and in many cases bottled water
does contain contaminants.
In case of India different voluntary organizations have tested bottled water quality at
different levels and their findings shows different results than what bottling companies are
claiming to the consumers. One of the reports from the Centre for Science and Environment
(CSE) has found pesticide residues in more than the permissible limits in bottled water. The
CSE analysed 17 brands purchased in Delhi and 13 brands from Mumbai and has reported
that most of the brands contained as much as five different pesticide residues. The study
found that while packaged water brands in Delhi had total pesticide content 36.4 times higher
than permissible limits, Mumbai brands had 7.2 times the standard content.
In other research done by Consumer Education and Research Society, an NGO from
Ahmedabad, has found similar results. They have selected 13 big brands to conduct their
research and found that out of 13 brands (eight drinking water and five mineral water) tested;
only three brands conformed to all the required specifications. Tests were conducted against
27 parameters under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PA) and 37 parameters of the
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and some of the standards in US Food and Drugs
Administration, Codex and World Health Organisation were also referred.
Almost all brands label their products as "germ free" and "bacteria free". But the fact is
something different. No brand was free from bacteria though all were found to be non-
pathogenic. In other words, these bacteria do not cause any disease. Another interesting
finding was that same brands bottled in different parts of the country showed disparity in their
composition and quality. So, should these brands be allowed to be sold in a single name? In
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March 1999, the Delhi-based Voluntary Organisation in the Interest of Consumer Education
(VOICE) conducted a test of bottled mineral water. The 12 brands selected were Purettee,
Fountain, Yes, Ganga, Bisleri, Florida, Himalayan, Golden Eagle, to name a few. The samples
were tested for the presence of heavy metals, mercury, nitrate, cyanide, arsenic, alkalinity,
fluoride etc. All the 12 were within the prescribed range and were said to be chemically safe.
As per BIS specification, the minimum TDS for mineral water is 150 mg. per litre and
maximum is 700 mg. per litre. Only three brands qualify for this category. On the other hand,
brands such as Bisleri, Golden Eagle, Prime, and Bailey failed to qualify as they were far
below the minimum required level of TDS.

Economics behind Bottle Water Industry
Since last one decade, the bottled water industry of India is growing with very high
pace. The reason of this high growth lies with huge profit which is being made by the
companies operating in this field. In fact, the lackadaisical policies of state and central
government are also providing a good opportunity for the market players to exploit the water
resources with minimum investment.
The profit margins in the business are really pretty good in this industry. If we compare
the production cost and the selling price of one litre bottle water, the actual cost of the bottled
water would be only fraction to the selling cost. Typically 90 percent or more of the cost paid
by bottled water consumers goes to things other than the water itself -- bottling, packaging,
shipping, marketing, retailing, other expenses, and profit. It is amazing to see that people are
prepared to pay Rs. 15 for a litre of water-in India especially when the production cost of one
litre of bottled water is not more than 4.5 Rs. According to the Laxmi Murthy, in Chennai, the
drinking water industry has seen tremendous growth in the last four years, with hundreds of
small-scale suppliers entering the water market. Around 220 water units operate near
Chennai. Every day, companies rake in revenues of Rs 80,00,000 to Rs 1 crore from the city,
according to industry estimates.
In the United States, bottled water costs range between $0.25 and $2 per bottle, while
tap water costs less than a penny.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC) of USA, if we include the cost incurred for transporting bottled water by boat, truck
and train that involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels bottling, packaging, shipping,
marketing, retailing, other expenses, the cost of one litre bottled water would be 240 to 10,000
times more than tap water. Olson from Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), USA, in
his paper Bottled water: pure drink or pure hype argued that consumers are paying inflated
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cost of bottled water as every $1.50 bottle of water brings around $0.50 in profit to the
company.
Figure 5

Source: Centre for Science and Environment

Stress on Water Resources
Data indicates that the share of packaged drinking water to the Indian bottling water
industry is more than 85 percent and they depend mostly on local water resources. They
manufacture bottled water by the filtration of local water resources at large scale. During
filtration, it is estimated that two gallons of water are wasted for every single gallon that is
purified. Adding problem to the water resources, much of the waste water is not recycle by
them. It is a major concern about the wastefulness reality of this bottling water industry on
such a precious resource. As we know that ground water is the chief source of drinking water
in India and this is only 0.61 % of the total available water on the Earth. In 2005, Indian
bottling industries were using 1625.5 million hectolitres of water and it is being projected that
they will consume several times more water than now. So one can imagine how much water is
going to be wasted in India.



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Figure 6
Water stress regions of India

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/india_water.html

More than two third of Indian population is still depending on agricultural and allied
activities and about 70 percent of farmers using groundwater to irrigate their land. And about
80 percent of domestic water supply catered through ground water. In that scenario the
commercial use of ground water along with the huge wastage of ground water during filtration
will led to water scarcity in India. Higher rates of groundwater extraction in coastal areas have
also led to salinity intrusion into coastal aquifers, especially in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
Unplanned and uncontrolled groundwater extraction has disturbed the countrys hydrological
balance.
The above figure 6, showing groundwater withdrawals as a percentage of groundwater
recharge, is based on state-level estimates of annual withdrawals and recharge reported by
India's Ministry of Water Resources. It can be seen from the map that the states like
Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana are already withdrawing more ground water than the amount
of recharged water. The two other states like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat also are utilizing 90
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percent of their recharged ground water. Over-extraction has led to the rapid depletion of
water tables as well as deterioration of water quality in these states. According to Rodell the
groundwater levels in India have been declining by an average of one meter every three years
(one foot per year). More than 109 cubic km (26 cubic miles) of groundwater disappeared
between 2002 and 2008 -- double the capacity of India's largest surface water reservoir, the
Upper Wainganga, and triple that of Lake Mead, the largest man-made reservoir in the United
States.
Other stressful fact for Indian water resources is the absence of an effective
nationwide policy and norms for groundwater use. We have several examples that the bottling
water industry has acquired the right to exploit our water resources for few thousands of
rupees and making huge profits. And in that process they are also destroying the environment
and the resource that rightfully belongs to all citizens. At present our existing law says that
"the person who owns the land owns the groundwater beneath". This means if a person buys
one square meter of land he can use all the groundwater of the surrounding areas and the law
of land cannot object to it. This law is the core of the conflict between the community and the
companies and the major reason for making the business of bottled water in the country highly
lucrative. (Laxmi Murthy, 2005)
Take for instance, Samriti, a Hyderabad-based NGO, alleges that Sri Sarvaraya
Sugars, a bottling unit dedicated to producing Coca-Colas Kinley brand of water, located in
the Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh, draws 225,000 litres of water a day. As a result,
bore wells in certain parts of Sattupalli village, that has a population of 25,000, are reported to
have dried up. Similarly, M V R Mineral Water and S R Minerals, both contract bottlers for
Coca-Colas Kinley brand of water, have been accused of depleting groundwater in Athur
village, 40 km northwest of Chennai. M V R Mineral Water reportedly extracts 132,000 litres of
water every day through deep bore wells.
In other case, Coca-Cola gets its water free except for a tiny cess (for discharging the
wastewater) in drought-prone Kala Dera near Jaipur. It pays to the State Pollution Control
Board - a little over Rs.5,000 a year during 2000-02 and Rs.24,246 in 2003. It extracts half a
million litres of water every day - at a cost of 14 paise per 1,000 litres. So, a Rs.12 per litre
Kinley water has a raw material cost of just 0.02-0.03 paise. (It takes about two to three litres
of groundwater to make one litre of bottled water). In Plachimada, Palakkad district, Kerala,
the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd bottling plant has been depleting groundwater
and distributing toxic waste as fertiliser to farmers around the bottling facility; this has created
a serious public health problem.
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Environmental Impact of bottling industries
Bottled water industries world wide flourishing continuously as gives the pre-packaged
impression of safety; however there are many health and environmental concerns that needs
to be considered. The environmental Impact of bottling industries can be broadly categorized
in three groups
1. Waste: Plastic bottles are commonly packaged in Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
and after the use the bottles often go into the trash, rather than the recycle bin. Though
PET is made for recycling, nine out of 10 such bottles in the United States end up in
landfill mainly in developing countries- roughly 30 million a day - where they can take
up to 1000 years to biodegrade. Therefore in the long run they could be disastrous to
the environment and could threaten to our aquatic ecosystems while polluting them
with human-made contaminants.
Figure 7
Used Bottle in the Landfill Site

Source: http://www.theanywater.com
2. Energy: According to the Pacific Institute, to make a typical one-litre plastic bottle,
cap, and packaging it takes around 3.4 mega joules of energy. Making enough plastic
to bottle 31.2 billion litres of water required more than 106 billion mega joules of
energy. Because a barrel of oil contains around 6 thousand mega joules, the Pacific
Institute estimates that the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil was needed
to produce these plastic bottles. Apart from that huge amount of energy is being
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consumed to transport these bottles to market, which ultimately severely drains our
limited fossil fuels.
3. Pollution: The most common plastic used in water bottle manufacturing is PET
(polyethylene terephthalate), an environmentally unfriendly substance that actually
requires 17.5 kilograms of water to produce only 1 kilogram of PET. The manufacture
of every ton of PET produces around 3 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). Bottling water
thus created more than 2.5 million tons of CO2 in 2006. The production of the plastic
also produces numerous byproducts that are extremely harmful to the environment. A
study last year by the Earth Policy Institute in Washington calculated that the bottled
water industry in Britain generated about 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year in
transport alone - equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 6000 homes.

Conclusion:
It is a fact that bottled water is an expensive and unnecessary cost in any economic
climate, despite that bottled water has become a multi-billion dollar business. This high growth
in the consumption and production is likely to continue in future as the demand for safe
drinking water will increase. Government at different levels, across the world are somehow
failing to provide safe, reliable and inexpensive domestic water to their people. Moreover with
the rise in income, urbanisation and health consciousness people will not hesitates to spend
more money on drinking water. All these factors are providing great opportunity to the market
players to exploit this multi billion dollar sector. Therefore there is huge rush to exploit our
water resources by these companies. We have several examples that how the multinational
companies are breaking all the rules and regulations to maximize their profits. Our
governments are only paying lip service to this demeaning situation. They are allowing these
companies to dig up of those ground water resources on which the livelihood of our poor
farmers depends completely. We also have to understand that purchasing bottled water may
be good for health perspective for some people but at large it contributes to the high
consumption of fossil fuels which ultimately creates severe environmental problems. In the
long run, the health impact of environmental pollution would be much greater on all being.
Finally, our failure to meet basic human needs for water should not open the door to replacing
a public good with a private commodity, but rather should motivate us to spend the same
resources to produce a more widely available, and far less costly, public product.

17


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